Sea-anchor.



No. 717,890. PATENTED JAN. 6, 190a.

T. s. MILLER...

SEA ANCHOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1901.

N 0 M 0 D E L 2 8 H E B T 8 S H B B T 1.

. %c'Z/z 90309 66. fave-72 6. 02?

PATBNTBD JAN. 6, 1903. T. s. MILLER.

SEA ANCHOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

10 MODEL.

t??? eossecs:

UNITED STATES PATENT rrrcn.

THOMAS SPENCER MILLER, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SEA-ANCHOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,890, dated January 6, 1903.

Application filed January 24, 1901 Serial No. 44,498. (No model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS SPENCER MIL- LER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of South Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Sea-Anchor, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in sea-anchors or drags used at sea either to prevent drifting of a vessel or to apply tension to a rope or cable for any other purpose.

My invention'comprises certain novel features which will be hereinafter described, and hereinafter pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figures 1 and 2 show in detail one form of anchor in two different positions, and Figs. 3, 4, and 5 show in detail another form of anchor in different positions.

It is often convenient or necessary to use a sea-anchor or drag, and it is often desirable in connection with such use of a sea-anchor that the strain upon the cable connected with said sea-anchor be maintained as nearly as possible constant. The forms of.sea-anchor herein shown are designed for attaining this result and, broadly speaking, consist ofa hollow structure having an inlet and exit opening for the water and provided with means by which one of these openings may be increased or decreased in area, so as to more or less throttle the flow of water through the structure, and thus vary the resistance, so as to maintain the sum total thereof approximately constant.

In Figs. 1 and 2 a form of anchor is shown consisting of a framework, having a canvas or other flexible cover thereon, forming a cone open at both ends. The framework consists principally of a ring D at the forward end of the anchor, to which the canvas cover I is secured, and asmaller ring E at the rear end of the anchor, to which the canvas cover is also secured. Ropes O are connected with the ring D and carried forward, where they are united, so as to form an eye O, to which the cable may be connected, by which the strain is conveyed from the anchor to the ship or other device to which it is attached. Ropes or cables 0 similar to the cable O or formed as the extensions of the cable 0, extend from the ring D backward to a connection with the ring E and are then extended farther toward therear until they are united to form an eye 0 to which a rope may be connected by which the position of the anchor may be reversed when it is desired to take it in.

In the form of anchor shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the variation in the area of the passage is obtained by placing a band F, of elastic material, about the canvas cover I at a point a short distance in advance of the ring E. This band may be of rubber, of coiled wire, or of any other elastic material. It is preferably secured to the canvas by stitching or otherwise, so as to maintain its proper location. When the pressure of water passing through the anchor is small, as when its speed of motion through the water is small, the spring or band will act to greatly reduce the meant the exit-opening. When, however, the movement of the anchor through the water is accelerated, the increased pressure due to this increase of speed will act upon the canvas walls to expand the band F and thus to permit a freer escape of the water, thus maintaining the strain approximately constant.

The construction shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with the exception that the anchor instead of tapering to a point at its rear end, tapers in the form of a wedge, the opening therein extendingsubstantiallyacross theanchor. Two bars G are secured to the cover I at two opposite sides of the opening and are connected with each other by springs F, which act to close the opening. These bars may be socured to the ring D by means of ropes G. In this form of construction the normal position of the anchor is shown in Fig. 3, the two sloping rear sides being drawn together, so that the exit-opening is comparatively narrow. As the anchor .is drawn through the water the pressure of the water against the sides thereof will force said sides outward, extending the springs F and increasing the area of the openin These two forms of anchor are substantially the same.

Withan anchor of this form a substantially constant strain may be maintained upon the draft-rope even in rough weather when the vessel is tossed about by the waves, as when the vessel surges upon the cable the anchor expands and its resistance is reduced below what it would be if it did not expand. This form of anchor is of great service where a vessel is riding in a storm with its head to the wind. It is also of great service in connection with devices such as that shown in Patent No. 637,142 issued to me November 14, 1899, in which a sea'anchor is shown as used for maintaining the tension upon a cableway extending between two vessels.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A sea-anchor consisting of ahollow structure adapted to permit passage of the, water therethrongh and having a relatively contracted discharge-opening of variable area.

2. Asea'anchorconsistingot'ahollowstructure adapted to permit passage of the water therethrough and having a relatively contracted dischargeopeniug of variable area, and means for attaching a cable to the end of the anchor.

3. Asea-anchorconsistingofahollowstructure open at both ends for the passage of the water therethrough, the opening at one end being of variable area and smaller than that at the other end, and a draft attachment at the large end of the anchor.

4. Asea-anchorconsisting ofahollowstructure open at both ends for the passage of the water therethrough, the opening at one end being of variable area and contracted relatively to that at the other end, and draft attachments to both ends of the anchor.

5. A sea-anchor consisting of a hollow structure adapted to permit the passage of the water therethrough and having a relatively contracted discharge-opening; and means for automatically restricting the discharge-opening controlled by the pressure of the water against the walls of the structure.

6. Asea-anchorconsistingofahollowst'ructure adapted to permit the passage of the water therethrough and having a relatively contracted discharge-opening, and means for antomatically varying the relative areas of the inlet and discharge openings in accordance with the speed of flow of the water therethrough.

7. A sea-anchor consisting of ahollow structure open at both ends for the passage of the water therethrough, and means for automatically varying the relative areas of inlet and discharge openings.

8. In a sea-anchor, an expanding and contracting retarding member secured at a point laterally from the line of draft and a spring urging the free portion of said member toward the line of draft, whereby the water tends to press the free portion of said member away from the line of draft in opposition to said spring.

9. A sea-anchor comprising a frame, and a flexible covering therefor forming a chamber open at each end but with the rear opening smaller than the other, and means for controlling the size of the rear opening in accordance with the speed of the water flowing through the chamber.

10. A sea-anchor comprising a frame, and a flexible covering therefor forming 'a chamber open at each end but with the rear opening smaller than the other, and means for controlling the size of the rear opening by the pressure of the water against the side walls of the device.

11. Asea-anchor comprising a hollow structure having inlet and exit openings to permit water flowing through the same, means whereby one of said openings maybe expanded and contracted, and a spring controlling said means.

12. A sea-anchor having a passage therethrough for the flow of water, means whereby the exit-opening may be expanded. by the flow of water therethrough, and a spring acting to contract the exit-opening.

13. Asea-anchor having an opening therethrough for the flow of water, and capable of expansion and contraction of area, and a spring acting in opposition to the pressure of water to control said opening.

14:. A sea-anchor comprising a frame and a flexible cover therefor forming a hollow conical structure open at both ends, and a spring acting in opposition to the pressure of water to contract the smaller or exit opening.

THOMAS SPENCER MILLER.

Witnesses:

H. L. REYNOLDS, W. A. PAULING. 

